Ryan Reynolds says Deadpool should never be an Avenger

Safe to say that few people on the planet think about Deadpool as much as Ryan Reynolds, whose second-wind status as a hitmaker—and incredibly profitable actor-turned-producer-turned-irritating-Mint-Mobile-ads-guy—hinges almost entirely on his love of, and promotion of, the Marvel mercenary. So take it as a given that, when Reynolds says that Wade Wilson should never, despite his own aspirations, become a member of a big, established superhero team like the Avengers, it’s not just a knee-jerk reaction.

Reynolds was talking about the arc of his most beloved character with The Hollywood Reporter this week, as part of a wide-ranging interview touching on multiple aspects of his career. (Also a fair amount of Trump shit, which Reynolds Canadian Diplomacy Robots his way around with aplomb.) The Avengers stuff comes from a moment when the writer-actor-producer contemplates the character’s future, noting that a) he probably doesn’t have another solo Deadpool movie in him at the moment, but b) that giving Wade his greatest desire would basically be the death of the character. Noting that he trusts Marvel to handle big-picture stuff, Reynolds said “The character trait I love most about Deadpool is that he’s a fanboy. His enthusiasm and longing to be part of a team is really endearing to me. It’s his overarching wish-fulfillment story. But I don’t think he should ever be an Avenger or an X-Man. If he becomes either, we’re at the end.”

The important thing, as in all aspects of life, is shame: “I think Deadpool works so well appearing with the X-Men and Avengers, but he always needs to stay an outsider. His ultimate dream is to be accepted and appreciated. But he can’t be accepted. His coping mechanism of deflecting shame through humor works only when used to pave over his many inadequacies.” At the same time, Reynolds made it clear that he’s not sure the character needs another him-focused outing, at least for now: “Centering Deadpool works best if you take everything away from him and put his back against the wall. I can’t really do that again. A fourth time feels a little iterative and redundant.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Reynolds also addressed the difficulties of filming Deadpool & Wolverine in a post-strike world—apparently those big secret cameos were a pain to coordinate and film with the reduced shooting hours of a late-in-the-year shoot—and Martha Stewart’s allegations that he is very serious in person. (“That was just an incredibly valid observation that someone made,” he noted, acknowledging that he is not, in fact, full-on Deadpool in his private life.)